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Ozaukee County Veterans Service Office |
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Veterans News And Views
As the “Dog Days of Summer” are now behind us, and unfortunately, winter not too far ahead, we can now turn our focus to the upcoming holidays. Veterans Day is another opportunity for us to get out into the community and remind our fellow citizens that we are still here. I hope that your post has some meaningful observances planned for Veteran’s Day. Port Washington High School will be conducting their annual observation, and inducting another deserving group of individuals to its Wall of Honor. If you have never been to one of these ceremonies, I encourage you to attend. They are open to the public, and are quite good. It never ceases to amaze me how well behaved these young people can be, when given a good reason to be. It will be held on Monday November 10th beginning at 10:30 A.M. Grafton High School will hold their inaugural Veterans Day Program this year. It will Be on Tuesday 11 November at 8:20 A.M..
There is a group of individuals who are holding monthly meetings here in the county, where guest speakers come in to talk about their experiences during their military service. They are called the Ozaukee County Military Historians Club, and they meet once a month for dinner and then the guest speaker. The group meets at the Rose-Harms Post in Grafton . For more information, including where the next meeting will be held, costs, etc, you can contact Ken Grigas at 284-1090 or Colin Sandell at 375-1151. Suzanne and I will be relocating around the first of the year. Our new offices will be located in the Justice Center, on the corner of Cty Highway “LL” and State Route 32. We will be on the first floor, southeast corner. Part of the “budget-trimming” process meant some changes around here also. Sue will only be in three days a week, and we will start charging a $10.00 fee for transport to the VA Medical Center for appointments. Patience will be required by all of us during the move, and afterwards with the adjusted hours. I expect that you will get to talk to my answering machine a lot. I will return your call just as soon as I can! VA HEALTHCARE ENROLLMENT AGAIN Well, it’s been almost five years since the VA changed it’s regulations regarding Healthcare Enrollment for ALL veterans, and it appears that there are still some out there with the wrong information. So here are the FACTS, once again. Enrollment in the VA Healthcare System is open to ALL veterans. There is NO CHARGE for initial enrollment, or for continued enrollment.
There is NO coverage for your spouse or children, unless they are veterans themselves, or unless you are rated at 100% Service Connected or Individually Unemployable yourself. There is a significant time delay between the time you make application and when you can be seen by the VA doctors. This is due to the large volume of veterans now entering the system. The ONLY exception to this is if you have an ACUTE illness. My experience has been that the only acute illness that gets immediate attention is an active cancer. I have tried to encourage ALL veterans to make application to the system, whether you intend to use it now or not. This could provide you with a potential “safety net”, if you should develop a serious condition in the future. It will only cost you a little time to complete the application. Changes are coming that could impact your waiting period!! ACT NOW !!!!!! State of Wisconsin Benefits Program Changes
Since my last newsletter, some things have already been changed, others remain to be resolved: Changes already in place include: 100 % Tuition Reimbursement for both full and part-time students. Increase in the amount of monies available for dentures, for our lowest income veterans. Monies to begin construction on the skilled nursing facility in Union Grove. There are a number of bills still in the Legislature that will have an impact on other state veterans programs. The County Veterans Service Officers Association of Wisconsin, in conjunction with the other service organizations within the state are continuing to try to work with the Legislature and WDVA to “fine-tune” these bills. SB-170 is the single largest piece of legislation out there. I’ll keep you posted. BEWARE OF THOSE WITHOUT SCRUPLES
There are a multitude of very reputable charities out there that really can use your help. Which is why these scammers REALLY get my goat. Be sure of who or what your donations are going to, and PLEASE… MAKE SURE YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE CHARITY ! ! ! ! !
The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs offers a variety of loan programs to Wisconsin Veterans.
The Home Improvement loan (up to $25,000) can be used for a variety of home improvements. The Personal Loan Program (up to $15,000) can be used for debt consolidation, medical bills, or education purposes. This loan has a 5% interest rate when secured by a mortgage, and 6% is secured by a co-signer ( not your spouse). All of these loan programs feed the interest payments into the Veterans Trust Fund. The Trust Fund in turn, provides the grants and assistance programs to other veterans. The State’s grant programs do NOT use any tax dollars. We, as veterans, help to care for our own, through the Trust Fund. Years ago, when the Trust Fund was first established, there was a special tax on liquor that help start up the Trust Fund. That special tax was either removed, or re-directed many years ago. The Trust Fund has been “self-sufficient” for many years. The Trust Fund also gives a grant to each county, every year, to help pay for the operation of the County Veterans Service Offices. It also gives a grant to each of the Service Organizations, to help pay for the operation of their service officers The current way of doing business is a classic case of veterans caring for other veterans.
The Section of the Department of Defense that oversees these search efforts has recently conceded that nearly 650 MIA’s from Vietnam are not having their cases pursued any longer. This is because they feel they have substantial evidence to the fact that these individuals were in fact killed, and there is little to no hope of recovering their remains. See the attached article. Two years have past since the tragic events of 9-11-01. The war in Iraq (round two) has been declared essentially over, though rarely a day goes by without hearing about another injury or death to one of our troops. As with anything these days, if its not on the nightly news broadcast, it loses relevance in the lives of many. The latest headlines deal with an individual in California trying to keep the Pledge of Allegiance out of the schools This is a sad statement of our society today. Times may have changed, but they haven’t changed THAT much. If the Supreme Court decides that this individual is right, it will be the saddest day America has seen in a loooong time. WAKE-UP AMERICA !!! We still have soldiers, sailors and airman on the front lines of a real shooting war. A year ago, I wondered how long the patriotism would last I guess I got my answer,…….. as sad as it is. The following comrades have passed away since our last newsletter: David Leppert; George Savage; Todd Scherwan; Herbert Bartelt; Jerome Norman; Gene Harrison; George Wiedenmeier; Martin Jaeger; Melvin Kuehl; Joseph F. Koch; Hugo Radmann; Roman Hoffmann; Joseph White; Leo Mundt; Charles Kempf; Glenn Zwickey; Jack Ritoria; Wayland Potter; Alvin Garp; Myron Thompson; and Leonard Stenberg. May They Rest In Peace
Change is inevitable, or so some unknown sage has professed. Some of the changes I see around me today, within our country, really make me sad. This is supposed to be a democracy, where the majority rules! Our “representative democracy” seems to have long ago lost sight of what is for the “common good”. We rarely get a day that goes by without some “special interest” group or another influencing the outcome of a legislative or legal decision. The most recent is an avowed atheist, who professes to speak for not only his daughter (who he does not have custody of) but for all individuals who might be “traumatized” or “stigmatized” by their exposure to the Pledge of Allegiance. No one forces the children to say the Pledge, but he argues that his daughter would be “stigmatized” if she did not say the Pledge, as other students in her classroom do. If ever there was a time to speak up, it is NOW. We have all become far too complacent. If we fail to act now, one of the most time-honored traditions of our youth will pass into history, to appease a group of lame brained liberals who would never risk offending anyone, …………………………..anyone they agree with that is.
Ken
GOD BLESS AMERICA
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IF, you do not
have a service connected disability, then the VA will review your
annual income and assets to determine if you will be subject to a
co-payment to use the system, this includes the income and assets
of your spouse. Prescription medications are available, at a
significant discount, ONLY if you utilize their system, and see
their doctors. The VA WILL NOT fill a prescription written by any
doctor other than their own.
Its
that time of year once again. You can usually bet that during the
holiday season, numerous groups or individuals will try to play on
your sympathies, and bilk you out of your hard earned dollars in
some sort of scam.
The
Primary Mortgage Home Loan, which is currently offering loans at
5.65%, requires a minimum of 5% down-payment and can only be used
for purchasing a new property, which will be the veterans primary
residence.
The teams have
secured the “cooperation of the North Koreans for another year of
searches. They will be concentrating on three specific areas, one
of which is the area immediately surrounding the Chosin Reservoir.
It should be noted that this “cooperation” was received only after
the US Government guaranteed approx $1.3 Million dollars in
payments to the North Koreans for “expenses incurred by the DPRK
during these search efforts”.
